The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts repatriates 41 Antiquities to Türkiye

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) announced that the museum has deaccessioned and returned 41 ancient polychrome terracotta reliefs following an investigation into the global trafficking of looted or stolen antiquities by the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

“The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts takes seriously and responds to all restitution claims for works in our collection,” said VMFA’s Director and CEO Alex Nyerges. “Based on the evidence shown to VMFA, we are convinced that we do not have clear title for these reliefs. We are therefore happy to be working with the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to return all of the polychrome terracotta fragments in question to Türkiye.”

On November 3, 2025, VMFA received a restitution claim from the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office pertaining to the group of 41 polychrome terracotta reliefs in the museum’s ancient art collection.

Valued at around $400,000, the objects under investigation belong to a large series of polychrome terracotta reliefs from a 6th century B.C. Phrygian temple at Düver, in southwestern Türkiye. This site was illegally excavated and looted between 1962 and 1968, and the finds were illicitly exported and sold on the international art market.

In 1978, VMFA purchased 34 terracotta reliefs from Summa Galleries in Beverly Hills, California, and six additional reliefs were received as gifts from Chicago-based antiquities dealer Harlan J. Berk. The following year, Summa Galleries gave another relief to VMFA, resulting in 41 polychrome terracotta relief fragments from the temple being added to the museum’s collection.

VMFA’s curatorial and provenance research staff fully complied with the request to supply all documents and photographs related to the purchase, including sales receipts, invoices and bills of sale; shipping and storage records; import and export documents; consignment agreements; appraisal documentation; provenance documentation and provenance research; catalogues, brochures and marketing materials; and all correspondence related to the terracotta fragments.

On November 17, 2025, Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, the head of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, met with museum officials and presented clear, compelling and irrefutable evidence that the works under investigation were stolen or looted and should be repatriated to Türkiye.

“The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is committed to returning any antiquities that are discovered to be unlawfully held,” said Dr. Lisa Brody, VMFA’s Jack and Mary Ann Frable Curator of Ancient Art. “When, as in this case, there is indisputable evidence that objects were obtained through illicit excavation and illegal export, we consider it essential to return these works to their country of origin.”

“Stolen or looted art has no place in our collection,” said Artistic Director and Chief Curator Dr. Michael Taylor. “We are therefore delighted to return these works and thank Colonel Bogdanos and his team of investigators for alerting VMFA to the presence of these illegally excavated works in our ancient art holdings.” Colonel Bogdanos in turn praised the museum for its cooperation and swift action in restituting these works of art to Türkiye. 

Main Image: Terracotta Relief with Geometric Motif, ca. 550 B.C., Unknown Phrygian Artist, polychrome terracotta, 9 x 9 1/4 x 3 1/4 in. (22.8 x 23.5 x 8.2 cm.)